Wickersley Patients

Please note that Wickersley Health Centre is a branch surgery and from time to time this may mean seeing a doctor at the main surgery. If you think your problem is urgent please tell the receptionist. The receptionist will be pleased to inform you about a doctor’s availability.

Nurse Minor Illness Clinics

Nurse minor illness clinics including telephone advice is available on a daily basis.

Chaperones

We can provide a trained chaperone as required for intimate examinations. You are always welcome to have a friend or relative present at your consultation.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to give the slot to someone else.

Home Visits

Home visits are at the discretion of the doctor. The best, and safest, place for a medical consultation is in a properly equipped surgery with access to nursing aid and diagnostic equipment if required. Several patients can be seen in surgery in the time it takes to do one home visit.

We expect patients to attend the surgery unless genuinely too ill or infirm to travel. Feverish children can quite safely be transported to the Surgery where they can be seen immediately if necessary. We are happy to visit the housebound elderly, but if a patient is normally transported for trips to the shops and other services, then we expect them to attend the surgery.

Where a home visit is essential, please try to give notice before 10:30 on the same day that the visit is required. After this time emergencies only will be attended on the same day.

The receptionist will ask for some details of the illness. This is to enable the doctor to assess the priority of the call. Requests for urgent visits during office hours should be telephoned to 0844 477 3622.

Sickness Certificates

You do not require a doctor's sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.

Evidence that you are sick

If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer can ask you to give them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).

It is up to your employer to decide whether you are incapable of work. A medical certificate, now called a 'Statement of Fitness for Work’ (see below) from your doctor is strong evidence that you are sick and would normally be accepted, unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.

You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, e.g. a dentist. Your employer will decide whether or not this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has any doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP.

Statement of Fitness for Work - ’Fit Note'

The 'fit note' was introduced on 6 April 2010. With your employer's support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury.

Telephone Advice

In some situations discussing your problem on the telephone with the doctor will help you decide what action to take next. An appointment can be made for the doctor to ring you at an agreed time.

Please note that all telephone calls to 0844 477 3622 and 01709 544000 are recorded for medico-legal purposes.

Please note that if calling from a mobile telephone the cost of the call may vary.

Patient's Not Attending For Their Appointments

In conjunction with our patient group we have introduced a ‘did not attend’ policy (DNA) for patients who fail to contact us to advise us that they are unable to attend the appointment they have made with a member of our team.

We have approximately 160 appointments per month which are in the ‘did not attend’ category.

We appreciate that emergencies happen but we need patients to understand what the effects of not ringing to cancel their appointment are:

• An increase in the waiting time for appointments• Frustration for other patients who are not able to obtain an appointment • A waste of time and money i.e. precious NHS resources• A potential risk to the health of the patient

We will regularly review the number of appointments which are missed and contact the patients who miss their appointment to help us to understand why they are having problems keeping their appointment.

Patients will be given an opportunity to change their pattern of missed appointments however if the practice does not see an improvement, we may decide to remove from the practice list and advise them to register elsewhere.

If our reception teams appear to be asking additional questions this is because they are trying to help you make the right choice when needing to access care.

SELF CARE

Health services are very busy at the moment. Help us to help those most in need. Follow these steps to use the right treatment: Please see the link below. Getting the right care, first time will ensure you receive the best possible treatment, leaving health services free for those who need them most.

You can treat most common ailments and illnesses at home by keeping a well-stocked medicine cabinet. This should include: